This invention is directed to a food press for preheating and placement on top of food items such as, for example, hamburger, bacon, sausages, steaks or chicken breasts, located on a cooking grill, so as to hold the food item down and to cook the top of the food item while the cooking grill is cooking the food item from the bottom. The cooking plate in the food press is provided with retention means to hold some of its weight so that it presses only lightly on the food item being cooked, when such is desired, when grilling such items as steak.
Most of the presses which are presently on the market are designed to put weight on the meat, hamburger or bacon in order to hold it down on the grill. Such presses have little thermal capacity and do not supply sufficient heat to accomplish cooking from the top. Furthermore, such presses do not have the capacity to hold the cooking plate in a raised position to limit the cooking plate pressure on the food item.